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American sport climber Sam Watson leaves the Paris Olympics with a world record but no gold medal

By Christopher Harris
· · 1 min read Full version →

Sam Watson finishes the Paris Games with a new world record but without the Olympic gold medal.

The American sport climber set a new speed world record on Thursday, but only in the battle for third place after he was knocked out in the semifinals.

The 18-year-old Watson, who was expected to win gold, lost to Wu Peng from China in the semifinals before achieving a record time of 4.74 seconds in the third-place round.

Sam Watson and Reza Alipour in the men’s speed final

Watson initially set the record with a time of 4.75 seconds in an elimination heat two days earlier. He had previously held the record of 4.79 seconds since April.

Leonardo Veddriq of Indonesia won the gold medal with a time of 4.75 seconds in the final. Peng finished with a time of 4.77 seconds.

Christopher Harris is a marketing strategist and senior editor who founded World Soccer Talk, a platform dedicated to soccer news and analysis. He has extensive experience in sports media and marketing

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